Hopefully the next door version has moderately priced food. This neighborhood really needs more places to fill the gap between Chinese takeout and all the $20 entree places. Hopefully that burrito joint going into the old Jam Rock spot opens before 2016.

Meanwhile, the restaurant that would REALLY succeed on Franklin Ave--the grilled cheese restaurant--continues to be under development. Gladys' was always overpriced, and who wants a $16 sandwich for dinner? But an $8-$12 grilled cheese...now THAT would work.

This is just odd. I was excited about the original menu with the sandwiches and the Darker and Stormier; by the time I got around to trying it out they had already changed the menu and I found it less appealing and surprisingly pricey. A rum bar would be great. But @lox pretty much summed up the rest.

Readers, I forget the order of events, but Bristen's was a restaurant on Franklin near Sterling that reinvented itself several times over about a two year period. They tried to serve Caribbean food, Asian Noodles, Hamburgers.

I was just thinking that a more "foodie" focused Caribbean place could do quite well in the neighborhood. Caribbean food/flavors are delicious, but none of the current joints seem to offer the more upscale ambiance/service that seem to hold the key for successful sit-down restaurants in the 'hood these days. And if Glady's can do a mean rum punch to go along with it, I'll certainly give it a try.

Funny, we thought Gladys was great for cocktails but that their food experience left something to be desired. Not because it wasn't tasty, but because it didn't offer a relaxing sit-down experience that made us feel like we were going out. It seemed to straddle a sort of gourmet fast-food experience, and that turned us off from seeing it as a dinner destination.

"So what is one to think of the new Glady’s? On the one hand, for those of us concerned about being “good gentrifiers,” it seems somehow not quite right to choose this spot as the place to get your Caribbean food fix when there are already so many longstanding neighborhood joints to choose from. On the other hand, Glady’s is comfortable, friendly and affordable–and seems to be striving to serve Crown Heights’ diverse clientele. Plus, I mean, where else are you gonna get a dark and slushie?"

"good gentrifiers" = guilt ridden white liberal? reward the people doing the best work. is brendan spiegel saying the same about the bad quality sushi and thai and bodegas that have been around the neighborhood a long time?

I think the new Gladys will do well simply because of the combination of good dinner food and ambiance. I think I would enjoy sitting in their nice restaurant, now that they are not charging $15+ for dinner sandwiches. If their service is good, friendly, and efficient, I think they will succeed.

Ahhh time will tell. SugarCane on Flatbush has been doing what Gladys is attempting for over 9 years now so obviously there is a market for sit down West Indian restaurants but then again SugarCane is far enough away from the cheaper spots in Crown Heights as to not have to compete.

As for Gloria's...everytime I pass by the line is almost out the door..and didn't Anthony Bourdain just have them on his show? I think they're doing just fine. I'm not sure how Island CZ & Janelle's are doing but I'm pretty sure that Gloria's rent is a grip less than Glady's and I guess if they expanded they'd make more money but maybe the cost of expanding outweighs the gain of what they already have.

Gloria's has multiple locations in Brooklyn. Their next step should be a sit-down place, but in my experience, places that do take out with steam tables and food cooked for volume often have difficulty moving to a cooked-to-order model. At any rate, I'd expect that the only thing standing between them and a long existance in CHN is the rent their landlord is charging. Hopefully they have a long lease with good terms.

Although Janelle's seems to get it more than Island CZ, they struggle. The only times I see them even close to being busy are late night on weekends.

The drinks Janelle's seems to sell are comparatively modest relative to those that SugarCane specializes in. It's a different venue.

Returning to Glady's, I don't see it becoming a "destination" in the same way SugarCane is. Nor do I expect its patrons to be "as single" or "as well dressed" as SugarCane's.

I actually actually see Glady's main competition as being Barbachino or Centani. These venues keep their spaces at a volume that allows their patrons to talk, and attract a slightly older, quieter crowd than the other bars on Franklin.

I've eaten there with friends a few times since their reopening, and both the food and service has been nothing short of fantastic. And from the look of the reviews on Yelp, people agree with me. I just wish that they would have more consistent daytime hours during the week and didn't close down between lunch and dinner on the weekends.

I've eaten there on both Friday and Saturday nights, and had to wait for a table each time. It wasn't long of a wait, but the restaurant was full and seats did not stay empty. I was kind of surprised to see you say that it doesn't seem busy when you walk by, because that hasn't been my experience when eating there. However I have walked by during the day and seen a scattering of people inside, but when I tried to go in, they were actually closed. Also, I wanted to eat there last weekend, but my friend didn't seem to think that they had daytime hours and we ended up going elsewhere. It turns out (at least according to Yelp) that they do have some daytime hours on the weekend, but it's probably confusing enough to deter some business.